Last Day of Classes!

     I had my last day of class today! Well my last day of class in the South. Tomorrow we are headed to Hampi, an ancient city that I am told is amazing. We head there on an overnight train, stay a night there, and then head back Sunday night on another overnighter. Once we are back in Mysore we have Monday to study and exams Tuesday through Friday. This semester abroad is split into two sections, the North and the South. Therefore we take courses in the South, write exams; and then take courses in the North and write exams. Two course marks are placed together to make a full course that the University of Guelph recognizes. We actually complete the same amount of class time that is necessary for Guelph courses, just in a shorter amount of time. I am a bit apprehensive about the exams so I will be studying on the overnight trains. I can't believe how quickly time has flown by. I have been in India for 5 weeks already!

      My time in Mysore has been great. I was ready to finally settle after travelling non-stop for two weeks. The longer I am on this trip, the more I appreciate how well it has been organized. We are able to travel and see many places, while at the same time, have the opportunity to stay and learn one location. The living arrangements in Mysore can be acquainted to that of residence in first year. It is great to be able to see everyone all the time but at the same time I see everyone all the time haha. When we are in the North we live with local families. I have billeted before when I was in Katimavik, so I am really excited to do it again. Although there is always some apprehension about entering someone else's place whom you do not know, it will be the best way to actually experience life in India.

      Mysore has brought many fun times! We have been able to explore some of Mysore in the minimal free time we get outside of classes. I have visited the local zoo and an "American" mall. I have also had many trips downtown to see the palace, the local market, and so much more. Many girls on the trips have had sari's tailored and one of the guys recently got a suit tailored.We have also had a few meals downtown at some local "touristy lonely planet" restaurants that have all been really good. I also should not forget to mention the monkeys. They have terrorized the group a few times by stealing bannanas from rooms or going through our garbage. They can actually be quite aggressive. A few days ago a few monkeys were going through garbage outside of our classroom. We tried to simply scare them off with no luck. A local worker actually had to grab a pellet gun to scare them off.

     I will try to post a few pictures in my next post. I am still having a great time and have been (knock on wood) quite healthy. Will update when I get back from Hampi :)

 Thanks for Listening

Chamundi Hill

     The Chamundi Hills are close to the palace city of Mysore where we are staying. The hills' average elevation is 1,000 meters. Yesterday we visited Chamuni Hill after seeing two amazing NGOs. One worked with children who are deaf and the other worked with people with mental disabilities. According to legend (Wikipedia), the demon Mahishasura, king of the area that is currently Mysore, was killed by the Goddess Chamundeswari (also Chamundi) after a fierce battle. The hills are named after the goddess, and a temple honors her in the hills. Chamundi's main hill features a long stone stairway, in which we climbed, that leads to the top of the hill. There are 1,180 steps in all, with the first 600 steps being steeper than those higher up. En route to the top, the steps pass the large statue of Nandi the bull. I am pictured with the bull above.The statue is about 16 feet high and 25 feet in length. Nandi is the vahana (vehicle) of Lord Shiva.

Mysore!

Hey Guys,
     So the rainforest retreat at the organic coffee and tea farm was amazing. I touched upon it a bit in my previous post but it definetly is worth mentioning again. I was with five other people in this really cool cabin in the western gats. Weeventually had to leave our paradise and face the reality that we are in school, so off we went to Mysore. Mysore has been great so far. We have had a few opportunities to go into town but most of our time is spent where we sleep and learn, at the Organization for the Development of People. It is a christain commune almost that is housing us and has another building where we take our classes. Professors come in to teach us our classes. For the first part of this semester while we are in Mysore I am taking Hindi, Indian culture and civilization, World Issues, Economics, and Natural Chemicals (a science course I am taking simply because my prof is teaching it). The days are very long and restrictive. A majority of the group has also decided to pay for a yoga instructor to come teach us in the morning which has been very cool, but just makes me fall into bed after dinner. I believe we still have another two weeks here. Everything is still going well. So much to say in so little time. I will hopefully be able to continue posting about how my trip is gong and share more stories with all when I return.

 Thanks for Reading

 P.S. I posted 3 pictures below. The first is at a fort in Kanyukamari, the second was taken in Turtle Bay while pushing our boat into the water to go see dolphins, and the last picture is our ridiculously long hike at the Rainforest Retreat.

A few more pictures!

Turtle Bay and the Rainforest Retreat

     So I have been unable to update the blog for about 10 days and so much has happened! Last time I checked in I was preparing to get on a train to go to Turtle Bay. The overnight train was long and cramped but effective as we arrived safe and sound. It was a thirty minute bus ride to our resort which was amazing! We stayed in cottages right on the water. Very picturesque! I was able to swim in the Arabian sea, lie in a hammock and read a book, and play beach volleyball. We had a lot of time to relax while there, but were also able to do a lot. I was able to get an Ayurvedic massage and we all learned about the practice of Ayurveda. One day was dedicated to snorkeling. I decided not to snorkel along with nine others so instead we were able to go to 4 local schools to give out teddy bears and tennis balls that we had brought with us. This was so much fun! After we had chai (tea) and then went out on a fisherman's boat to got see dolphins.The rest of the group who went snorkeling sounded like they didn't enjoy it as much as they thought, and even not knowing this I was so happy I chose to stay back. While there we were also able to learn about the area and talk with a local NGO. They were teaching the locals the importance of toilets and proper sanitation. From some of the money we raised we are going to be able to pay to have a public washroom installed. The group is unsure of what to name it up to this point. Any suggestions? The last night we had a bonfire on the beach and watched the stars. At the time I did not want to leave and would have been totally happy staying there for a few more days. That was before I arrived at the Rainforest Retreat.

     The rainforest retreat was suppose to be only a 6-8 hour bus ride away at most but it turned into a 12 and a half hour bus ride. The bus we were on was pulled into a stop at one point for a "routine check". This was no routine check as our bus was literally breaking down. I could not believe we actually made it to the next location in that bus. Our professor was getting very frustrated with these bus drivers as they had no idea where we were going or what he was saying but still wanted to try and show us around the area to get more money. We did arrive late that night. Rainforest retreat could not hold everyone which was known in advance so six of us were chosen to go to the Golden Mist retreat up the road. I was one of the six and we had so much fun. We dropped of the others first and then drove to our own resort .... well to the top of the road at least. When we got off Ludwig, the owner of Golden Mist, picked us up in a jeep. I have never been so squished before in my life. The six of us and our packs were stuffed into the back of the Jeep (pics to come). Ludwig was originally from Germany and had moved to India 20 years ago. He had established this organic tea and coffee farm about 8 years ago. He was very interesting and accommodating. While there we were able to see how each retreat ran and explored some of the western gats and learned about the local area. There is so much to say, but unfortunately only little time at an internet cafe. I am now in Mysore where I will be completing the first part of my semester in school. I will be here for 4 weeks so I will try and find a way to communicate more and hopefully post more pictures. Hope everyone's winter is going well :P

Talk to you soon

Crazy Cochin

     So the day train was the worst train ride yet and it was half the time of previous trains. I have found out that I much prefer night trains to day trains. The train from Coimbatore to Cochin was packed. Each compartment has seats for eight people yet by the end of my trip there were 16 people in my compartment. Just another experience that I can look back on and laugh but at the time I was more just tired and sweaty. The train station was not located in Cochin (Kochi) so we had a bus take us to our hotel. The hotel is very nice with free wifi (albeit slow wifi) and was located in the centre of the town. The town was quite touristy but was a nice contrast to Coimbatore which didn't have much to see. The six guys went out for fish and chips when we got there. We were all very hungry because we had not eaten in a while. The rest of the day was spent hanging around the area. That night we ate at a terrible rooftop restaurant that had a great location but terrible service. After two hours we had only received 1 of 10 meals. After the third hour we had another two. We had told the server to just bring out whatever they had because we had to go. There was nothing else yet on the grill. We left and went across the road where we were served drinks, food, and the bill in an hour.
     The next day we got up early to do a backwater tour of Kerala. It was very cool and a nice chill way to spend the morning. We got back around 2:30pm and didn't have much time till we went back out to watch a traditional dance performance. Overall it was a great day. Today we are leaving around 6pm to get on the last overnight train of the trip in Southern India. I believe we have another eight to go in the North. We leave this city to go to Turtle Bay. I am told it is quite remote but very relaxing. There will most likely be no internet in Turtle Bay or at the rain-forest retreat that we go to after Turtle Bay. After these two areas we go to Mysore which is where we start classes. We stay in Mysore for around three and a half weeks.
     That is all for now. Wish me luck on this next train as it is 12 hours. Hope all is well back home and I will talk to you again in about nine days.

The Southern Most Tip - Kanyakumari and Coimbatore

After leaving the lovely restaurant with free wifi the group that I was with left to go back to the hotel. We wanted to hit up a market, bank, and a restaurant before we actually went back to the hotel. At the time this seemed like a manageable undertaking seeing as we were not leaving the hotel until 7pm to go to the train station. After leaving the restaurant to go back to the hotel, which was very close, we learned that we were wrong. Since we had been out all day we were never informed that the departure time had moved up to 5:30! Thankfully we headed back around 5:45pm to get ready and so were able to get on the bus. Unfortunately that meant that I was unable to pack my own luggage or have a shower before we left to go on the overnight train. The train didn't leave until about 8:30pm but it took a while to get to the station and get where we needed to be. The train was an experience in and of itself. This particular train was very full and there were actually more people than there were seats. There were 8 people to a compartment and when people were ready to sleep they converted their seats into beds. This was definetly not my favourite part of the trip up to this point, but it was an experience I would want to have before I left India. Unfortunately I will have it 11 more times but I am sure I will adapt and it will become better. 

We arrived around 7am in Kanyakumari which is a city that attracts many tourists and is located at the southern most tip of India. The rooms were not ready for us but we were able to grab breakfast and then head out and explore the city. It was beautiful! Our hotel was located right off the water and had beautiful views. This city was unlike Chennai and Pondicherry in that it was less of a bustling city and more of a coastal laid back town (in India's standards). We all walked along the coast and took pictures. Us guys were going to be placed in a "suite" so we had to wait longer than the girls for our room. Once we got it we found out that it was simply conjoined rooms located on the top floor. On the plus side it had three balconies that looked out to the water and the front of the hotel. Kanyakumari was quite laid back and we had quite a bit of free time to spend as we liked. During the two day stay we visited the Gandhi shrine that holds his ashes, went to the southern most tip of India, and walked around most of the city. On the second day, around the same time, we headed out to again catch an overnight train. 

The second overnight train was better than the first. Although it was longer it was less crowded, therefore more enjoyable. I was also placed in a compartment with only people from Guelph so it made me feel comfortable. That morning we arrived in Coimbatore. This was an addition to the trip and our professor had not been here before. The reason we were in this city was because we were to visit an agricultural university that works with CIDA and the University of Guelph. It is highly respected and multiple professors from Guelph studied at this particular university. The tour was a bit boring and the town has little to offer tourists. The second day was much better than the first. Today we drove to a research site located at the top of a mountain. It took two and a half hours to drive up the side of the mountain to our destination. The views were amazing but the driving was mad. The roads were hard to be on, especially when you get motion sick. A few people had trouble with them, including myself. It was so worth it in the end. We visited the research site as well as a rose garden and a botanical garden. We also had lunch in the area at a very posh restaurant. We felt so out of place. It was a long drive home but we are finally here. I am headed to bed as we have to get up and be ready to get on a bus for 4:15am. We will be taking another train but this one is only 5 hours and will bring us into the west coastal town of Cochin. 

That is all for now, talk to you soon :)